Shloka 4

दान-धर्म-आश्रमविधानम्

Dana, Dharma, and the Four Āśramas

Devanagari script

पृथिवी पर्वता मेघा मूर्तिमन्तश्न ये परे । सर्व तद्‌ वारुणं ज्ञेयमापस्तस्तम्भिरे यत:

Transliteration

pṛthivī parvatā meghā mūrtimantaś ca ye pare | sarva tad vāruṇaṃ jñeyam āpas tastambhire yataḥ ||

Translation

婆罗陀婆阇说道：“大地、群山、云霭，以及一切具形之物——当知皆具水性；因为正是水支撑并安定了它们。”

Word by Word

• पृथिवी: earth
• पृथिवी: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पृथिवी
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• पर्वताः: mountains
• पर्वताः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पर्वत
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• मेघाः: clouds
• मेघाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: मेघ
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• मूर्तिमन्तः: embodied, having form
• मूर्तिमन्तः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मूर्तिमन्त्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• ये: which, who
• ये: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• परे: others, further (besides these)
• परे: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पर
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• सर्वम्: all (this)
• सर्वम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सर्व
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• तत्: that
• तत्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• वारुणम्: watery; belonging to Varuṇa (i.e., water)
• वारुणम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वारुण
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• ज्ञेयम्: is to be known/understood
• Type: Verb
• Root: ज्ञा
• Form: Gerundive (तव्य/यत् sense), -य, Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• आपः: waters
• आपः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अप्
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural

• तत्: that (all)
• तत्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• स्तम्भिरे: they have propped up/held firm
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्तम्भ्
• Form: Perfect (लिट्), 3rd, Plural, Parasmaipada

• यतः: because, since; from which
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यतस्

Speaker

भरद्वाज उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bharadvāja
• pṛthivī (earth)
• parvata (mountains)
• megha (clouds)
• āpaḥ (waters)
• Varuṇa (implied by vāruṇam)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

All tangible forms—earth, mountains, clouds, and other embodied things—are to be understood as fundamentally ‘watery’ in nature, because water is presented as the sustaining basis that stabilizes and supports them.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s didactic discourse, Bharadvāja is explaining a cosmological principle about the elemental basis of the world, emphasizing water (āpaḥ) as a foundational support for manifest, formed entities.